Well simply insert the OEM (the os install) disc for your laptop and it will do all for you to format. Or you can do this:

1. For this to work you must create a MS-DOS bootable floopy. How to create a MS-DOS bootable floopy:

(In your case, as you do not have a version of Windows on your system, ask a friend if you can use their computer to create one, it does not involve anything that could mess up their computer!)

Making a bootable floopy: (For Windows XP)1. Boot the computer to Windows, and logon2. Insert a floopy disk3. In My Computer, right click the A: Drive.4. From the drop-down menu, click Format...5. Enable the checkbox beside Create an MS-DOS startup disk.6. Click the Start button and follow the screen instructions until the process is complete.

Now, still using your friends computer, you need to copy some files to this bootable floopy.

1. Download Killdisk from here:http://download2.lsoft.net/killdisk.zip2. When the download is complete, open up the .zip file and copy and paste the following files to the bootable floppy: Copy and paste these files: Copy the Active@ KillDisk for Hard Drives file (KILLDISK.EXE) and DOS-extender file (DOS4GW.EXE) to the bootable floppy disk.

Now its time to start erasing!

WARNING: FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. It does not really matter if you muck up though, because you can just inserting that floppy till you get it right!

1. With the PC power off, insert the Active@ KILLDISK for Hard Drives floppy disk into drive A:.2. Start the PC by turning on the power. The screen will display the Microsoft DOS prompt.3. At the DOS prompt, run Active@ KILLDISK for Hard Drives by typing:KILLDISK.EXE

All system hard drives and floppy drives will be displayed in the left pane along with their system information in the right pane.

Change the position cursor using the keyboard [Down] and [Up] arrow keys.

Information in the right pane will change according to the structure of the detected devices.

4. Hard drive devices are numbered by the system BIOS. A system with a single hard drive will show it as number 80h. Subsequent hard drive devices will be numbered consecutively. For example the second device will be shown as 81h

Be certain that the drive you are pointing to is the one that you want to erase. All data will be permanently erased with no chance for recovery.

5. If there is any doubt about which drive to select, preview the sectors in the device by pressing [Ctrl + S].Scroll up and down using the keyboard arrow keys, [Page Up], [Page Down], [Home] and [End] navigation keys. Jump to a specific sector using [Ctrl + G]. When you are satisfied with the identification of the device, press [Esc] to exit this screen.

6. When you have selected the device to erase, move the cursor to that device and press [Enter] on the keyboard.

Using the keyboard arrow keys, select the feature that you want to configure. Press [Enter] to make a change.

The Confirm Action screen will then appear.

7. This is the final step before removing data from the selected drive for ever. Once the process has started, you may stop it by pressing the [Esc] key.

Type ERASE-ALL-DATA and press [Enter]. Progress of the erasing procedure will be monitored in the Disk Erasing screen.

7. If you wish to stop the process for any reason after it has begun, press the [Esc] key. Please note, however that erased data will not be recoverable. There is nothing more to do until the end of the disk erasing process. The application will operate on its own without user intervention.

If there are any errors, for example due to bad clusters, they will be reported on the Interactive screen. If such a message appears, it will be possible to cancel the operation (by pressing [Esc]), or continue erasing data.

Thats all folkYou can now install your Operating system simply by insterting the install disc!!

What is the error code? if it happens before the windows starts up, you most likely have corrupt files and the best solution would be to use the windows installation cd to perform a fresh installation of windows to get the computer working normally, after this you are required to isntall the drivers for the computer, unless you have a restore disc that does it automatically.

Tell us some more! Your answer needs to include more details to help people.You can't post answers that contain an email address.Please enter a valid email address.The email address entered is already associated to an account.Login to postPlease use English characters only.

Attachments: Added items

Related Questions:

Shuts down when? Right after you boot it up? Or does it run a while then shut down? If it shuts down after it has run for a while then the computer is probably running hot. Either the CPU Fan is not working or the Thermal Paste has dried up or is too thin to keep the CPU Cool. To prove it is running hot, let the computer sit for a while then boot it up. Once it boots up use it until it shuts down and immediately try to boot it up. If it does not boot up that means it's running hot. But if you let it cool off then try booting up you will be successful.

Well in the system Bios or setup there are options where you can have the computer turn itself on automatically at a certain time. However, the fact that yours is turning itself on and off seems to indicate that it is either over heating or it is running into an issue when trying to boot and it keeps recycling the boot process. There is an option that you can set that will turn off automatic restart on boot. Turn off the computer and then turn it on and start hitting F8 repeatedly until you see Safe Mode as an option. Scroll down through the options and you will probably see an option that lets you stop automatic restart on boot, and take it if it is there. This will allow you to actually see the error message that is causing your computer to reboot itself.

Remove the battery from the motherboard and check that it has 3volts or above. if not then replace it. That will cure your pressing F1 to continue all the time. As for the restarts then you will need to turn off Automatically restart in the control panel,system section. To do this you will need to boot into safe mode. Tap the F8 while booting until you get a black screen with white type on it. Its first option is to boot into safe mode. hit enter on this screen and windows will start with no drivers loaded. the screen will appear very large. navigate to the control panel as mentioned above and untick "automatically restart". Ok that and reboot normally. now you will most probably get a blue screen of death. note the first stop code. it will appear something like 0x000000??. Its the last two digits that are the clue to why this is happening. Google the stop code and you will now know why this is happening and do something to stop the problem.

Test your PSU or replace it if your power supply units fan is not working your PSU is faulty

One bad lead can cause a computer to continue on a cycle or to shutdown or fail to detect/ boot up a computer hard drive

Test all leads that attach to your hard drive including electrical extensions,IDE,SATA

the leads from your ((motherboard to your hard drive)) make sure they have a secure connection and are not faulty or just replace them there probably old and faultymake sure all leads that are attached to your drives dvd\cd 3 1/2 inch floppy have secure connections and are not faulty even the electrical extensions or just replace them they are probably old and faulty a computer needs its connections to have an end so any faulty leads will end up with a computer error hope this helps

This behavior may occur if Windows stops responding during a typical
operation or during the shutdown process. By default, the computer is
configured to automatically restart when Windows stops responding. To
view this setting, follow these steps:

Click the Start button, right-click My Computer, click Properties, click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Start up and Recovery.

Under System Failure, view the Automatically restart check box. If the Automatically restart check box is selected, Windows automatically restarts if the computer stops unexpectedly.

If your computer constantly restarts while you are using it, or if you
are trying to shut down the computer after it has stopped unexpectedly,
click to clear the Automatically restart check
box. If you clear this check box, you receive an error message when the
computer stops responding. This error message may describe the cause of
the problem. You can also review the system log in Event Viewer to view
the critical stop error that occurs when the computer restarts.
For additional information, click the following article number to view
the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
308427
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/
)
HOW TO: View and manage event logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
To configure the way that Windows responds when the computer stops unexpectedly, follow these steps.

Note:
You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the
Administrators group to complete this procedure. If your computer is
connected to a network, network policy settings may prevent you from
completing this procedure.

Log on to the host computer as either an administrator or the owner.

Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

Under Pick a category, click Performance and Maintenance.

Under the or pick a Control Panel icon section, click System.

Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Startup and Recovery.

Click to select any one of the following check boxes under System Failure:

Write an event to the system log

Send an administrative alert

Automatically restart

At last if nothing works then clear the "Star up"

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Start upIf you are not satisfied then If you are using XP then repair it.

Hit F8 before boot-up to enter the windows
bootup menu. Select safe mode. You should see a list of drivers
loaded, and then windows should load up. If it doesn't shut down, you
can open the event viewer to see what errors happened when it
automatically shut down.

This should help pinpoint what piece of software is the problem.Also, if you have just recently added new ram chips, one or more of them could be bad. A service tech would have to check that for you.

burn this disk as an .iso and boot from disk. try the recovery options on this disk first, and if nothing then you may be in need of a free OS install. you MUST keep all virus, spyware, and firewall up to date n order to keep your computer safe. free-avg.com does have a great free download.
Good Luck

Try booting up the computer pressing whatever key the Dell needs to boot into BIOS (F10, Delete key, F1...pay attention to the screen) and leave the computer on for about 15min. See if it cuts off then. If it does its more than likely your power supply. If it doesn't then its not hardware related.

Recovery SettingsOne of the things that is quite different
about Windows XP compared to Windows 9x (9x is shorthand for Windows
95, Windows 98, and Windows Me in all their various versions), is that
one can control how it responds to certain critical errors—those that
cause the infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). In Windows XP,
the default setting is for the computer to reboot automatically when a
fatal error occurs. If that fatal error only occurs when you're
shutting down, the system reboots automatically.If you haven't
changed any of the system failure settings, you should be able to see
the error by looking in the Event Log. But a better long-term solution
is to turn off the automatic reboot so you can actually see the error
when it happens—chances are it will tell you enough about itself to let
you troubleshoot further. To change the recovery settings to disable
automatic rebooting:
1.
Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2.
Click the Advanced tab.
3.
Under Startup and Recovery, click Settings to open the Startup and Recovery dialog box.
4.
Clear the Automatically restart check box, and click OK the necessary number of times.
5.
Restart your computer for the settings to take effect. Now
when you go to shut down and a fatal error occurs, you'll at least see
it and it won't cause an automatic reboot. You still have to sort out
what's causing the problem, but that gets us to the next section quite
nicely.